LAKE ARTHUR, La. — The Ferriday Lady Trojans went on the road Thursday night in the bi-district round of the LHSAA Class 2A playoffs and came away with a 43-37 upset win over the Lake Arthur Lady Tigers.

Ferriday entered the playoffs as the No. 20 seed and wasn’t given much of a chance to get past the first round. Yet somebody must have forgotten to tell that to No. 13 seed Lake Arthur.

And it was how the Lady Trojans ran their offense as well as an inspired performance by T’Keyah Fletcher on both ends of the court that made the difference.

“We were very patient on offense. We were very patient about what shots we wanted to take,” Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron said. “We put a lot of pressure on their point guard, Anna Shaw. She’s their only true guard. She was the key to their offense.”

Abron had Fletcher guard Shaw in the second half and, as Abron put it, “that threw a curveball in their offense.”

Lake Arthur took several three-pointers in the first half, but the Lady Tigers kept missing them and the Lady Trojans kept coming up with the rebounds.

Despite playing with an ankle injury that required her to come out of the game at times, Fletcher made a lot of 3s in the first half that allowed Ferriday to be down by just one point, 16-15, at halftime. She led the Lady Trojans in scoring with 16 points while Chanta Poole had 13 points. Fletcher’s defense on Shaw also proved to be big as Shaw was held to just nine points.

“She played with a lot of heart. It didn’t bother her,” Abron said. “We rebounded the ball well. Played good defense.”

Elizabeth Guidry led Lake Arthur with a game-high 19 points.

Ferriday (15-12) will play host to Winnfield in the regional round next Monday at a time to be determined.

Trinity Episcopal 58, Rebul Academy 28

BENTON — Margaret Ward and Abbey Ashmore gave Trinity Episcopal some unexpected help on the offensive end as the Lady Saints rolled past the Rebul Academy Lady Raiders Thursday afternoon at the MAIS Class A State Tournament at Benton Academy.

Trinity Episcopal improved to 27-8 on the season and will take on Marvell Academy in the semifinals today at 2:15 p.m. Marvell advanced with a 46-32 win over Heidelberg Academy.

Ward and Ashmore were two of the four Trinity players to score in double figures. Ward finished with 12 points and Ashmore had 10 points. Bethany Ogden scored 16 points while Madelyn Cross flirted with a triple-double for the second straight game as she ended up with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight steals.

The South State champion and top-ranked Lady Saints used their press defense to force numerous turnovers which in turn led to easy baskets. They jumped out to a 16-4 lead over the South Central State runner-up Lady Raiders and never looked back.

By halftime, Trinity enjoyed a 40-12 lead. But the Lady Saints weren’t done yet as they outscored Rebul Academy in the third quarter for a 56-19 advantage.

Southeast Lauderdale 43, Franklin County 39

CHOCTAW — Pashen Thompson scored 28 of her game-high 29 points after the first quarter as she carried Southeast Lauderdale on her shoulders as the Lady Tigers upset top-ranked and Region 7-3A champion Franklin County Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Tournament.

“They only had 43 points and one girl had 29. That was the difference,” Lady Dawgs head coach Charles Moore said. “We tried a combination of defenses, but we had a hard time stopping her. We held her to one point in the first quarter, but she started knocking down shots and made her free throws.”

What also hurt Franklin County (24-2) was that it missed several shots in the first half that were makable and could have led the Lady Dawgs to a bigger lead at the half than the five-point lead they did have.

Vintrice Briggs scored 10 of her 15 points in the third quarter, but Franklin County was still outscored by Southeast Lauderdale, the Region 5-3A runner-up, 14-12 in the third quarter to lead by just three.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Dawgs saw Leondra Shaw foul out and Kierra Collins go down with a knee injury while trying to guard Thompson. And the Lady Tigers took advantage by outscoring them 14-7 for the shocking victory.

In another quarterfinal round game that was played Thursday afternoon, host Choctaw Central defeated Wilkinson County to end the Lady Wildcats’ season.

Monterey 64, Converse 46

MONTEREY, La. — Ellen Bairnsfather finished with 13 points while Rachel Pecanty and Kendall Lipsey had 12 points apiece as the Monterey Lady Wolves defeated the Converse Lady Wildcats Thursday night in a Class B bi-district round playoff game.

Monterey, the No. 9 seed, led Converse 28-20 at halftime before putting the game away with a 21-10 advantage in the third quarter for a 19-point lead. The Lady Wolves had nine players score with seven of them with at least five points.

Converse, the No. 24 seed, was led by Casey Craig and Lauren Sistrunk, who shared the game-high in scoring with 14 points each.

The Lady Wolves (25-5) will take on the winner of the Avoyelles Public Charter/Quitman game next Monday in a regional round game at a time to be determined.

Block 48, Elton 37

JONESVILLE, La. — The Block Lady Bears defeated the Elton Lady Indians Thursday night in the bi-district round of the LHSAA Class 1A playoffs.

Block (18-8), the No. 10 seed, will take on No. 26 seed Grambling in the regional round next Monday. Grambling upset No. 7 seed Oak Grove 54-46.